Department of Philosophy

Last updated: August 23, 2011 at 5:05 p.m.

Objectives

Undergraduate Major The primary concern of philosophy is to explore ideas that are central to the ways we live and that we commonly use without much reflection, ideas such as truth and justice, the notion of consciousness, and good and evil. In the course of our daily lives, we take the ideas of time, language, knowledge, and our own identity for granted. Philosophy seeks to push our understanding of these ideas deeper. It is the systematic study of ideas fundamental to all the other disciplines taught at the university—the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and the arts.

The skills philosophy helps to develop—critical thinking, sound reasoning, enlightened use of one's imagination, and the capacity to analyze complex issues—are invaluable in the study of any subject or the pursuit of any vocation. Philosophy is unavoidable: every thoughtful individual is gripped by philosophical questions and is guided by assumptions that the study of philosophy brings explicitly to light and puts into larger perspective.

Graduate Program in Philosophy The graduate program in philosophy leading to the MA degree seeks to provide its students the grounding in the discipline necessary to prepare them to apply to top-ranked PhD programs in philosophy or to obtain a degree in philosophy and advance their chosen careers. Although the program does not offer separate tracks, students are able to draw on the special strengths of the department in metaphysics and epistemology, ethics, social and political philosophy, philosophy of language, logic, philosophy of mind and cognitive science, early modern philosophy, aesthetics, and the philosophy of law.

Learning Goals

The primary concern of philosophy is to explore ideas that are central to the ways we live and that we commonly use without much reflection, ideas such as truth and justice, the notion of consciousness, and good and evil. In the course of our daily lives, we take the ideas of time, language, knowledge, and our own identity for granted. Philosophy seeks to push our understanding of these ideas deeper. It is the systematic study of ideas fundamental to all the other disciplines taught at the university—the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and the arts.

The skills philosophy helps to develop—critical thinking, sound reasoning, enlightened use of one’s imagination, and the capacity to analyze complex issues—are invaluable in the study of any subject or the pursuit of any vocation. Philosophy is unavoidable: every thoughtful individual is gripped by philosophical questions and is guided by assumptions that the study of philosophy brings explicitly to light and puts into larger perspective.

II. KnowledgePhilosophy majors can expect to…
1. Gain detailed understanding of at least two central topics in the theory of knowledge, metaphysics, philosophy mind, and the philosophy of language.
2. Gain detailed understanding of a central topic in moral and political philosophy.
3. Gain significant understanding of at least one major movement or figure in the history of philosophy.
4. Investigate philosophy’s connections with, and application to, some other field of study, such as the natural and social sciences, women’s studies, linguistics, cognitive science, law, art, mathematics, and history.

III. Social JusticeThe philosophy major contributes to the University’s goal of learning in the service of justice:
1. By enabling students to reflect on the nature and requirements of justice.
2. By enabling students to recognize and appreciate a variety of theories about how to be just.
3. By fostering the capacity to critically examine ethical problems and conflicts.

Upon Graduating:
Our majors have pursued careers in medicine, law, computer science, business management, public relations, sales and many other arenas. Both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal have published stories about how employers in a variety of fields are looking for candidates who can solve problems, think and write clearly, organize ideas, question assumptions, sort through a mass of information and identify what’s essential, as well as find—in the midst of heated debate—some common ground. These are all talents that the study of philosophy cultivates and develops.

How to Become a Major

To become a major in philosophy, students must complete a total of nine required courses and satisfy the distribution requirement (see below) in metaphysics and epistemology; moral, social, and political philosophy; the history of philosophy, and logic. At least four must be upper-level courses. To be a candidate for honors, seniors must complete an honors thesis. For further information, contact the undergraduate advising head.

How to Be Admitted to the Graduate Program in Philosophy

Applications should include the standard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences form (www.brandeis.edu/gsas/), GRE scores, a brief personal statement, a writing sample, and three letters of recommendation. Applications are accepted on a rolling admissions basis, but priority will be given to those who apply by February 15th.

Although the program is designed to be completed in one or two years of full-time study, students may choose to attend the MA program on a part-time basis.

Scholarship assistance is available for a limited number of exceptional candidates. The department also offers opportunities for master's candidates to earn a stipend as teaching assistants.

Faculty

Jerry Samet, Chair Philosophy of mind. Philosophy of psychology and cognitive science. History of philosophy.

Affiliated Faculty (contributing to the curriculum, advising and administration of the department or program)
Jon Levisohn (Near Eastern and Judaic Studies)

Requirements for the Minor

A. All philosophy minors must complete satisfactorily at least five semester courses from among philosophy and cross-listed courses.

B. At least three semester courses counted toward the minor must be taught by faculty of the philosophy department.

C. At least one course must be upper-level (100 and above).

D. A maximum of one semester of PHIL 98a and b can be counted toward the minor; PEER 94a does not count.

E. No course with a grade below a C will count toward meeting the requirement of five courses for the minor; students may petition the department for waiver of this requirement for a maximum of one course.

F. No course taken pass/fail may count toward requirements for the minor.

G. With the approval of the department minors adviser, transfer students and those taking a year's study abroad may apply up to two semester courses taught elsewhere toward fulfilling the requirements for the minor. The three-course requirement of B, above, remains in effect. Unless special approval is given by the minors adviser, transfer and cross-listed courses will count as lower-level electives.

Requirements for the Major

A. All philosophy majors must satisfactorily complete at least nine semester courses from among philosophy and cross-listed courses. The philosophy department approves cross-listed courses for philosophy credit on a semester-by-semester basis based on the course content and instructor. Students should check the current Schedule of Classes or contact the philosophy undergraduate advising head to make sure that any course under consideration for philosophy credit is cross-listed in the semester in which the student plans to take it.

B. At least five semester courses counted toward the major must be taught by faculty of the philosophy department.

C. At least four courses must be upper-level (99 and above), distributed as follows:

1. At least one must be among the following core upper-level courses in moral, social, and political philosophy: PHIL 102a, 107-112, 114b, 116a, 118-124*.

2. At least two must be among the following upper-level courses in metaphysics and epistemology: PHIL 129-147 and 150, 151 and 182a. PHIL 99 counts as an upper-level elective, but does not satisfy this distribution requirement.

3. At least one course must be in the history of philosophy: PHIL 122a*, 149a, 161a, 162b, 166a, 168a, 170a, 179a, 180b, 181a.

(*PHIL 122a can meet either the Ethics requirement or the History requirement but not both.)

D. At least one course must be in logic (PHIL 6a,106b).

E. A maximum of one semester of 98a and b or 99a and b can be counted toward the major. (PEER 94A does not count.)

F. No course with a grade below a C will count toward meeting the requirement of nine courses for the major; students may petition the department for waiver of this rule for a maximum of one course.

G. No course taken pass/fail may count toward requirements for the major.

H. With the approval of the department undergraduate advising head, transfer students and those taking a year's study abroad may apply up to four semester courses taught elsewhere toward fulfilling the requirements for the major. The five-course requirement of B, above, remains in effect. Unless special approval is given by the undergraduate advising head, transfer and cross-listed courses will count as lower-level electives.

I. Senior Honors Options
There are two ways that students can graduate with Honors in Philosophy.

Track 1 includes Senior Research I and II (PHIL 99a, 99b) and writing of an extended multi-chapter thesis on a philosophical topic under the supervision of a member of the faculty.

Track 2 includes the Senior Essay (PHIL 97a) and one additional elective approved by the department.

This department participates in the European cultural studies major.

Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts

Program of Study Candidates for the master of arts degree in philosophy must fulfill the following requirements:

Coursework
Complete a program consisting of nine courses selected with the approval of a faculty advisor to be assigned to each student upon matriculation. Unless special approval is granted, at least seven of the nine courses must be taught by department of philosophy faculty. All master of arts students must take PHIL 200a (Graduate Proseminar) and PHIL 299a (Master's Project). Students must receive a grade of B+ or higher for each course they wish to count toward the nine required courses.

Proseminar Requirement
Complete PHIL 200a (Graduate Proseminar). The mode of instruction of the Proseminar emphasizes discussion rather than lecture. The topics are determined by the instructor but ordinarily include central texts and wide range of content areas.

Master’s Paper Requirement Enroll in PHIL 299a (Master's Project) and successfully complete a master's paper of professional quality and length. The paper will be evaluated by two faculty members.

Symbolic Logic Requirement Demonstrate competence in symbolic logic, specifically facility in translations between English and propositional and predicate logic and proof technique (e.g. natural deduction or truth trees). The Director of Graduate Studies will assess the student's background and determine if the requirement has been satisfied or if an appropriate logic course at Brandeis needs to be taken.

Residence Requirement Students may enroll on a full or part-time basis. There is a one-year minimum residence requirement for full-time students. For full-time MA students the program may be completed in one year of intensive study; however, the department encourages full-time students to take greater advantage of the department's resources and to spend one-and-a-half to two years to complete the program. Students who wish to complete the program on a part-time basis are strongly encouraged to complete all the requirements within four years.

Note: There is no foreign language requirement for the master of arts degree in philosophy.

Courses of Instruction

(1-99) Primarily for Undergraduate Students

PHIL
1a
Introduction to Philosophy
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Enrollment varies according to instructor. Refer to the Schedule of Classes each semester for information regarding applicability to the writing-intensive requirement.A general course presenting the problems of philosophy, especially in the areas of metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and social and political philosophy. Texts include works of selected philosophers of various historical periods from antiquity to the present. Usually offered every semester.Staff

PHIL
12b
Social Justice
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This course may not be repeated for credit by students who have taken PHIL 112b in previous years.The course will look closely at the idea of social justice and the moral and political issues to which it gives rise. Discussion will include critical analyses of modern conceptions of what constitutes a just society as well as an examination of how these conceptions apply to contemporary issues at the intersection of politics and markets. The course will examine in light of different ways of viewing social justice, the case to be made for and against distributing certain goods and services as the result of free exchange or through markets subject to some degree of public oversight, regulation, planning and control. The course will look at what, if anything, is to be done about, among other things, financial markets, national health care, garbage disposal, funding of the arts, fire departments, auto, gas, and coal emissions, clear cutting, highway construction, zoning laws, food and drugs, patents, public parks and schools, voucher programs, toxic waste, endangered species and the licensing of parents. Discussion will also address the question whether there might be a shared conception of social justice or a balance struck balance between liberty and equality that all reasonable persons could accept. Readings include selections from Locke, Rousseau, Mill, Rawls, Nozick, Walzer, Friedman, Hirschman, MacIntyre, Sandel and others. Usually offered every second year.Mr. Teuber

PHIL
13b
The Idea of the Market: Economic Philosophies
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Historical survey of philosophical assumptions in the defense and critique of market capitalism, starting from Adam Smith's views on value, self, and community. Explores philosophical alternatives in Marx, Weber, Durkheim, Dewey, and Nozick, including debates on justice and individualism. Usually offered every second year.Mr. Gaskins

PHIL
17a
Introduction to Ethics
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Explores the basic concepts and theories of ethical philosophy. What makes a life good? What are our moral obligations to other people? Applications of ethical philosophy to various concrete questions will be considered. Usually offered every semester. Ms. Smiley or Ms. Moran

PHIL
18b
Introduction to the History of Philosophy
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Introduces central philosophical questions, issues and methods through close study of key works in the history of philosophy, from the ancient period through the early 20th century. Philosophers studied may include Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Hume, Kant and Wittgenstein. Usually offered every second semester.Ms. Marusic

PHIL
19a
Human Rights
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Examines international human rights policies and the moral and political issues to which they give rise. Includes civilians' wartime rights, the role of human rights in foreign policy, and the responsibility of individuals and states to alleviate world hunger and famine. Usually offered every second year.Mr. Teuber

PHIL
20a
Social and Political Philosophy: Democracy and Disobedience
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Focuses on the relation of the individual to the state and, in particular, on the theory and practice of nonviolent resistance, its aims, methods, achievements, and legitimacy. Examines the nature of obligation and the role of civil disobedience in a democratic society. Explores the conflict between authority and autonomy and the grounds for giving one's allegiance to any state at all. Examples include opposition to the nuclear arms race, and disobedience in China and Northern Ireland and at abortion clinics. Usually offered every second year. Mr. Teuber

PHIL
21a
Environmental Ethics
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This is an experiential learning course. Explores the ethical dimensions of human relationships to the natural world. Looks at environmental ethical theories such as deep ecology and eco-feminism and discusses the ethics of specific environmental issues such as wilderness preservation and climate change. Usually offered every second year.Ms. Moran

PHIL
22b
Philosophy of Law
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Examines the nature of criminal responsibility, causation in the law, negligence and liability, omission and the duty to rescue, and the nature and limits of law. Also, is the law more or less like chess or poker, cooking recipes, or the Ten Commandments? Usually offered every year.Mr. Teuber and Staff

PHIL
23b
Biomedical Ethics
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An examination of ethical issues that arise in a biomedical context, such as the issues of abortion, euthanasia, eugenics, lying to patients, and the right to health care. The relevance of ethical theory to such issues will be considered. Usually offered every second year.Mr. Hirsch

PHIL
24a
Philosophy of Religion
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An introduction to the major philosophical problems of religion. Discusses traditional arguments for and against the existence of God, the nature of faith and mystical experiences, the relation of religion to morality, and puzzles about the concept of God. Usually offered every second year.Mr. Hirsch

PHIL
35a
Philosophy of Science
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Philosophers in the twentieth century have often taken scientific activity to be the ideal source of our knowledge about the world. Discusses the problems involved in the analysis of the principles and methods of scientific activity, with an eye to assessing this claim. Usually offered every second year.Mr. Berger, Mr. Hirsch, or Ms. Marusic

PHIL
36b
Mind, Meaning, and Language
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Certain sounds we produce are meaningful; others are not. What is it that makes a sound meaningful? What settles what we mean? And how can we know what we mean? Readings include Grice, Searle, Putnam, Quine, and Davidson. Usually offered every second year.Mr. Marusic

PHIL
37a
Philosophy of Language
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Theories of meaning, reference, and methodological issues in account of language and translation. Readings from contemporary sources. Usually offered every year.Mr. Berger or Mr. Yourgrau

PHIL
38b
Philosophy of Mathematics
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Prerequisite: A course in logic or permission of the instructor. Basic issues in the foundations of mathematics will be explored through close study of selections from Frege, Russell, Carnap, and others, as well as from contemporary philosophers. Questions addressed include: What are the natural numbers? Do they exist in the same sense as tables and chairs? How can "finite beings" grasp infinity? What is the relationship between arithmetic and geometry? The classic foundational "programs," logicism, formalism, and intuitionism, are explored. Usually offered every second year. Mr. Berger or Mr. Yourgrau

PHIL
39b
Philosophy of Mind
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May not be repeated by students who took PHIL 131a in spring 2010.Covers the central issue in the philosophy of mind: the mind-body problem. This is the ongoing attempt to understand the relation between our minds -- our thoughts, perceptions, feelings, and so on -- and our bodies. Is the mind just a complex configuration of (neural) matter, or is there something about it that's irreducibly different from every physical thing? Topics include intentionality, consciousness, functionalism, reductionism, and the philosophical implications of recent work in neuroscience, cognitive science, and artificial intelligence. Usually offered every year.Mr. Samet

PHIL
66b
Contemporary Analytic Philosophy
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Covers major figures and schools of philosophy in the twentieth century. A basic historical treatment of this period, stressing its continuity with the modern period. Emphasis on the role of logic and language in solving philosophical problems, such as the possibility of doing metaphysics, and whether there are a priori, necessary, or analytic truths. Provides both an excellent introduction to the philosophy curriculum, as well as important grounding for graduate work in philosophy. Usually offered every second year.Mr. Berger, Mr. Greenberg, or Mr. Hirsch

PHIL
74b
Foundations of American Pragmatism
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Introduction to American instrumentalism as a philosophical movement and cultural force. Special attention to pragmatic imprints on law and science across the twentieth century. Recurring critical debates over ethical relativism, religious skepticism, legal activism, and the cult of scientific and professional expertise. Usually offered every fourth year.Mr. Gaskins

PHIL
78a
Existentialism
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A study of French existentialist philosophy and its reception, with special attention to the works of Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. Usually offered every second year.Mr. Marusic

PHIL
98a
Readings in Philosophy
A maximum of one semester of PHIL 98a,b or PHIL 99a,b can be counted toward the major.Readings, reports, and discussions on assigned topics. Usually offered every semester.Staff

PHIL
98b
Readings in Philosophy
A maximum of one semester of PHIL 98a,b or PHIL 99a,b can be counted toward the major.Readings, reports, and discussions on assigned topics. Usually offered every semester.Staff

PHIL
99a
Senior Research I
A maximum of one semester of PHIL 98a,b or PHIL 99a,b can be counted toward the major.A senior whose GPA in philosophy courses is 3.50 or above may petition to be admitted to the senior honors program and enroll in this course. The course involves the preparation and beginning of a thesis, under the direction of a member of the faculty, that could serve, in the judgment of the faculty member, as progress toward the completion of a senior honors thesis. Usually offered every year. Staff

PHIL
99b
Senior Research II
Prerequisite: Satisfactory completion of PHIL 99a. A maximum of one semester of PHIL 98a,b or PHIL 99a,b can be counted toward the major.Seniors who are candidates for degrees with honors in philosophy must register for this course and complete a senior honors thesis, under the direction of a member of the faculty. Usually offered every year.Staff

(100-199) For Both Undergraduate and Graduate Students

PHIL
102a
Self-Love and What to Do with It: A Philosophical Analysis
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Despite the quixoticism of moralists who wish to expunge self-love from human nature, a more practical treatment would deal with it in a more rational manner. This course is a philosophical investigation of the possibility of an answer to that question. Usually offered every second year.Mr. Greenberg

PHIL
106b
Mathematical Logic
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Prerequisite: One course in logic or permission of the instructor. Covers in detail several of the following proofs: the Gödel Incompleteness Results, Tarski's Undefinability of Truth Theorem, Church's Theorem on the Undecidability of Predicate Logic, and Elementary Recursive Function Theory. Usually offered every year. Mr. Berger

PHIL
107b
Kant's Moral Theory
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An examination of the main philosophical issues addressed in Kant's Critique of Practical Reason from the perspective of their relation to works specifically belonging to his ethical theory: the Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals and the Metaphysics of Morals. Usually offered every second year.Mr. Greenberg

PHIL
108a
Philosophy and Gender
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Prerequisite: PHIL 1a or PHIL 17a.Explores the place of gender in the works of particular Western philosophers (e.g., Kant, Hume, and Rousseau) and uses the tools of contemporary analytic philosophy to address questions about gender equality, sexual objectification, and the nature of masculinity. Usually offered every third year.Ms. Smiley

PHIL
109b
Ethics and Emotions
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Prerequisite: One course in philosophy.An examination of the historical and contemporary theories concerning the role that emotions and feeling ought to have in moral judgment and decision-making. Explores contemporary philosophical theories about the relationship between emotion and judgment. Usually offered every third year.Ms. Moran

PHIL
110a
The Good Life or How Should One Live?
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Much recent philosophy in the English-speaking world has focused on the nature of things and our knowledge and reasoning about such things. But most human mental activity is not theoretical, but practical; less concerned with how the world is than with what is to be done. In the earliest moments of Western philosophy, Socrates distinguished himself by asking, "How should one live?" Increasingly, however, that question and its variants have taken a back seat in philosophy, abandoned to the best-seller lists and to publications produced by recent graduates of assertiveness training workshops. We reclaim these questions and take them up again from within the discipline of philosophy itself. Questions asked include: "How should I live?" "What are the good things in life?" "Does life have meaning?" Readings include Darwin, Nietzsche, Freud, Murdoch, Dennett, Dawkins, Hacking, Nozick, and Nagel. Usually offered every third year.Mr. Teuber

PHIL
111a
What Is Justice?
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Prerequisite: One course in philosophy or political theory or permission of the instructor. What is justice and what does justice require? The course examines theories of justice, both classical and contemporary. Topics include liberty and equality, "who gets what and how much," welfare- and resource-based principles of justice, justice as a virtue, liberalism, multiculturalism, and globalization. Usually offered every second year.Ms. Smiley

PHIL
112a
Philosophy of the State
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Prerequisite: One course in philosophy or POL 10a strongly recommended.Explores a variety of normative arguments for and against the legitimacy of the state that have been put forward by key figures in the history of western political philosophy; e.g. Hobbes, Kant, Rousseau, Hume, and Dewey. Usually offered every second year.Ms. Smiley

PHIL
113b
Aesthetics: Painting, Photography, and Film
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Explores representation in painting, photography, and film by studying painters Rembrandt, Velázquez, and Vermeer, as well as later works by Manet, Degas, Cézanne, and Picasso; photographers Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange, Edward Weston, Walker Evans, Alfred Stieglitz, and Diane Arbus; and filmmakers Renoir and Hitchcock. Usually offered every second year.Mr. Teuber

PHIL
114b
Topics in Ethical Theory
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Prerequisite: PHIL 1a, or PHIL 17a, or PHIL 23b. Is morality something we have reasons to obey regardless of our interests and desires, or do the reasons grow out of our interests and desires? Is the moral life always a personally satisfying life? Is morality a social invention or is it more deeply rooted in the nature of things? This course will address such questions. Usually offered every year.Ms. Moran or Ms. Smiley

PHIL
116a
Topics in Political Philosophy
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Prerequisite: PHIL 1a, PHIL 17a, or POL 10a.Explores social contract theories of political obligation, the right to rebel against the state, and the possibility of a global political community. Usually offered every second year.Ms. Smiley

PHIL
117b
Topics in the Philosophy of Law
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Prerequisites: one course in philosophy or legal studies, or one of the following: POL 115a, POL 116a, or permission of the instructor. Topics vary from year to year.Course may be repeated once for credit. Topics include such key issues as privacy, free speech, theories of punishment, alternatives to punishment such as rehabilitation and shaming, theories of judicial review, and legal and moral rights. Usually offered every third year.Mr. Teuber and Staff

PHIL
118a
War and Morality
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Prerequisite: One course in philosophy or POL 10a.Explores a variety of moral questions associated with both war in general and particular kinds of warfare. How, if at all, does war differ from murder? Under what conditions can a particular war be justified? Where do we draw the line between defensive and offensive actions? Can a just war be restricted morally with respect to its tactics? Is torture ever justified? What is the moral status of "innocents" in arguments about the justifiability of particular modes of warfare? What, if anything, is special about terrorism? How--according to what principles--can we ascribe responsibility for harm in wartime? Does collective responsibility for war crimes make sense? Is pacifism a coherent doctrine? a justifiable practice? Usually offered every second year.Ms. Smiley

PHIL
120a
Utilitarianism
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Explores historical and contemporary versions of utilitarianism. Examines arguments for and against them, as well as looking at the implications of utilitarianism for our own lives. Usually offered every third year.Ms. Hewitt

PHIL
121a
Self, Identity, and Freedom
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Prerequisite: One course in philosophy.Self, identity, and freedom are studied by way of feminist theory, neurobiology, and continental (European) themes that mix and merge conventional subdisciplines of Western philosophy. The aim is to reconceive persons in relation to larger communities. Special one-time offering, fall 2009.Ms. Hein

PHIL
122a
History of Ethics
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Explores several major ethical traditions in the history of modern philosophy/ Examines the natural law theories of Hobbes and Grotius; moral sense theory; Kantianism; utilitarianism; and Nietzsche's response to these traditional moral theories. Usually offered every third year.Ms. Moran

PHIL
124a
Philosophy of Revolution
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A philosophical analysis of political revolution. Questions include: What are the causes of revolution? When is revolution justified? What is the value of freedom? What are the effects of revolution? Includes analysis of an example of revolution in history. Usually offered every third year.Ms. Moran

PHIL
129a
Philosophical Problems
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Open to advanced undergraduates and graduate students.For students already introduced to philosophy who are interested in examining an array of fundamental philosophical problems in the three main areas of philosophy--epistemology, metaphysics, and ethics and politics--at a more advanced level. Usually offered every year.Mr. Greenberg

PHIL
132a
Infinity
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One course in logic is recommended.Is infinity real? Exactly how big is it? these questions have puzzled thinkers from Zeno (with his famous paradoxes), to Aristotle, Galileo, Cantor, and Wittgenstein. Students will examine the mystery of infinity from all sides, philosophical, mathematically, psychological, and theological. Usually offered every second year.Mr. Yourgrau

PHIL
133a
Consciousness, Brain, and Self
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Prerequisite: One course in philosophy, psychology, or neuroscience, or permission of the instructor.Consciousness--sensing, feeling, thinking--is our life. But it's hard to understand how mere "meat puppets" like us could be conscious. Are scientists closing in on a solution? And if they are, what does that say about who we are and how we ought to live? Usually offered every second year.Mr. Samet

PHIL
134b
Philosophy of Perception
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Prerequisite: PHIL 1a or PHIL 66b or one course numbered PHIL 35a through PHIL 38b.What do we perceive? Do we perceive objects in the world or do we infer on the basis of sensory data that there are such objects? And how do our answers to these questions depend on or shape our metaphysics? Usually offered every second year.Mr. Marusic

PHIL
135a
Theory of Knowledge
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Prerequisite: PHIL 1a or PHIL 66b or one course numbered PHIL 35a through PHIL 38b.An investigation into the nature, sources, and extent of human knowledge, with emphasis on the problem of justifying our beliefs about the existence and character of the external world. Usually offered every year.Mr. Greenberg, Mr. Hirsch, or Mr. Marusic

PHIL
136a
Personal Identity
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Prerequisite: PHIL 1a or PHIL 66b or one course numbered PHIL 35a through PHIL 38b.An examination of some major issues involved in the question of personal identity. What am I? What are the conditions of self-identity? How does the identity of the self relate to the identity of a physical object? Is identity an illusion? Usually offered every second year.Mr. Hirsch or Mr. Greenberg

PHIL
137a
Nature or Nurture? The Innateness Controversy
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Prerequisite: One course in philosophy or permission of the instructor.The question: How much of what we are--what we believe and know, what we think and feel, and how we act--is due to our environment and training and how much is a function of our inherent nature? This interdisciplinary course covers: the main answers in the history of philosophy (from Plato through Logical Positivism); the contemporary philosophical debate on this question; and current scientific research in linguistics, psychology, ethology, artificial intelligence, and evolutionary biology. Usually offered every third year.Mr. Samet

PHIL
139b
Topics in Logic
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Prerequisite: PHIL 1a or PHIL 66b or one course numbered PHIL 35a through PHIL 38b.Topics may vary from year to year and the course may be repeated for credit. Topics in the past have included: Is logic an a priori or empirical science? Does it make sense to say that we can revise or adopt our logic? Is logic true by conventional rules of language? Set theory and the paradoxes. Usually offered every year.Mr. Berger, Mr. Yourgrau, or Ms. Marusic

PHIL
140a
Logic and Language
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Prerequisite: PHIL 1a, PHIL 6a, or PHIL 106b, or permission of the instructor.Covers basic problems and puzzles regarding reference and identity-topics that dominate issues in philosophy of language today. Topics include puzzles about belief, necessity, substitutivity of identity statements, and formal semantics for parts of language that includes modal and intensional notions. Usually offered every second year.Mr. Berger or Mr. Yourgrau

PHIL
141b
Topics in Philosophy and Cognitive Science
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Prerequisite: One course in philosophy.Explores the various ways in which philosophical ideas are reflected in and illuminate scientific theorizing about the mind and also examines the implications of recent work in the cognitive sciences for traditional philosophical concerns. Topics differ from year to year. Usually offered every fourth year.Mr. Samet

PHIL
142b
The Subjective Point of View
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Prerequisite: PHIL 1a or PHIL 66b or one course numbered PHIL 35a through PHIL 38b.Explores the relation between the variable and the constant in experience, a relation embraced by what we as subjects bring to our experience, our subjective point of view of the world. Addresses the question of how our experience, with its inherent subjectivity, variable and constant, can provide us with knowledge of reality. Usually offered every third year. Mr. Greenberg

PHIL
143a
Consciousness and Self
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Prerequisite: PHIL 1a or PHIL 66b or one course numbered PHIL 35a through PHIL 38b.The origins of our concept of consciousness can be found among the fundamental ideas of modern philosophy, tied to the concept of self. This connection will be the subject matter of this course. Usually offered every fourth year.Mr. Greenberg

PHIL
144a
Philosophical Problems of Space and Time
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Prerequisite: PHIL 1a or PHIL 66b or one course numbered PHIL 35a through PHIL 38b.An examination of philosophical problems concerning the concepts of space and time as these arise in contemporary physics, modern logic and metaphysics, as well as in everyday life. Specific topics usually include philosophical aspects of Einstein's theory of relativity, the possibility of "time travel," the distinction between space and time, and McTaggart's famous distinction between the "A-series" and the "B-series" of time. Usually offered every third year.Mr. Berger, Mr. Hirsch, or Mr. Yourgrau

PHIL
145b
Topics in the Philosophy of Language
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Prerequisite: PHIL 1a or PHIL 66b or one course numbered PHIL 35a through PHIL 38b.Topics may vary from year to year and course may be repeated for credit. Topics include the relationship between the language we speak and our view of reality, reference, the sense in which language may structure reality, and formal semantics. Usually offered every third year.Mr. Berger, Mr. Hirsch, or Mr. Yourgrau

PHIL
146a
Idea of God
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Prerequisite: PHIL 1a or PHIL 66b or one course numbered PHIL 35a through PHIL 38b.Engages in a philosophical investigation, not of religion as an institution but of the very idea of God. Studies the distinction between human being and divine being and addresses the issue of the relation of God's essence to his existence. Usually offered every second year. Mr. Yourgrau

PHIL
147a
Transcendental Arguments
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Prerequisite: PHIL 1a or PHIL 66b or one course numbered PHIL 35a through PHIL 39b.Transcendental arguments are meant to establish conclusions about the world by reflection on the conditions for the possibility of thought and experience. But can we really conclude how things must be in the world simply by thinking about how we experience things and how we think? Usually offered every second year.Mr. Marusic

PHIL
148b
Philosophy of the Humanities
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Prerequisite: PHIL 1a or PHIL 66b or one course numbered PHIL 35a through PHIL 38b.Explores the nature of the humanities, their methods and goals, with a particular focus on the discipline of history. Is history a "science," and should it be? What is the nature of the claims to knowledge that historians (and other humanists) make? How does one know a narrative? How does one know an interpretation? And what is the role of power in legitimating the claims to knowledge advanced by scholars, teachers, and students of history? Usually offered every fourth year.Mr. Levisohn

PHIL
149a
Leibniz, Hume, and Kant on Necessity
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Prerequisite: PHIL 1a or a course in the history of modern philosophy or analytic philosophy. An investigation into the views of three historical philosophers -- Leibniz, Hume, and Kant -- on the concept of necessity, with limited reference to contemporary treatment of the concept by W. V. Quine and early David Kaplan. Related concept of a priori and analyticity are also discussed. Usually offered every fourth year.Mr. Greenberg

PHIL
150b
Topics in Epistemology and Metaphysics
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Prerequisite: PHIL 1a or PHIL 66b, or one courses numbered PHIL 35a through PHIL 38b.Topics vary each year; course may be repeated for credit. Usually offered every second year.Mr. Berger, Mr. Hirsch, or Mr. Marusic

PHIL
151a
Philosophy of Action
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Prerequisite: PHIL 1a or PHIL 66b or one course numbered PHIL 35a through PHIL 39b.What distinguishes doing something--performing an action--from something's merely happening? What is the connection between actions and our reasons for action? How are we to explain irrational actions? And in virtue of what are we responsible for our actions? Usually offered every second year.Mr. Marusic

PHIL
161a
Plato
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Prerequisite: PHIL 1a or permission of the instructor.An introduction to Plato's thought through an intensive reading of several major dialogues. Usually offered every second year. Mr. Yourgrau

PHIL
162b
Aristotle
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Prerequisite: PHIL 1a or permission of the instructor. An introduction to Aristotle's philosophy through an intensive reading of selected texts. Usually offered every second year.Mr. Yourgrau

PHIL
165b
Philosophy of Hilary Putnam
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Concentrates on Putnam's latest views primarily in philosophy of science, philosophy of mind, epistemology, and ethics. Covers different notions of realism and perception. All works will be based upon his forthcoming 3 volume collection of new papers and his forthcoming new book on perception. Usually taught every third year.Mr. Berger

PHIL
166a
David Hume
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An in-depth examination on the philosophical ideas of the eighteenth-century Scottish philosopher David Hume, covering his views in metaphysics and epistemology, his philosophy of mind, his moral and political philosophy, and his philosophy of religion. Usually offered every third year.Ms. Marusic

PHIL
168a
Kant
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Prerequisite: PHIL 1a or permission of the instructor.An attempt to understand and evaluate the main ideas of the Critique of Pure Reason, the subjectivity of space and time, the nature of consciousness, and the objectivity of the concepts of substance and causality. Usually offered every year.Mr. Greenberg

PHIL
170a
Special Topics in History of Philosophy
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Prerequisite: One course in philosophy. An advanced seminar focusing on a single philosopher or text, or on the way a number of key figures in the history of philosophy have addressed a philosophical problem or topic. Recent offerings: (1) a close reading of Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy, the essential text of continental rationalism and the foundation stone of modern philosophy, and (2) a close reading of Hume's Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, a central text of eighteenth-century British empiricism. Usually offered every fourth year.Mr. Samet

PHIL
178b
Major Figures in the Christian Faith
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Prerequisite: PHIL 1a.Presents the important theological contributions of the major thinkers of the Western Church, covering the modern period. Usually offered every fourth year.Mr. Yourgrau

PHIL
179a
God, Man, and World: Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz
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Prerequisite: One course in philosophy.The subject of this course is Rationalism, the seventeenth-century European philosophical movement that maintains the supremacy of "pure reason" as a means of obtaining substantial truths about the world. This course analyzes key writings of the three most influential rationalist thinkers of this period, attempting to elucidate several themes that not only characterize these writers as rationalists, but which continue to inspire philosophers and others who attempt to come to terms with the nature of the world and human existence. Students will read substantial portions of historically significant original works are, dissect and criticize them, consider some of the respected secondary literature, and also consider their relevance to contemporary philosophy. Usually offered every third year. Mr. Samet

PHIL
180b
From Sensation to Understanding: Locke, Berkeley, and Hume
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Prerequisite: One course in philosophy.The subject of this course is Empiricism, the (mainly) British philosophical movement of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries that develops and defends the view that our understanding of ourselves and the world is wholly based on our experience. Empiricism is one of the two great competing traditions characterizing what has come to be known as the Modern period in philosophy. Analyzes key writings of the three most influential empiricist thinkers of this period, and attempts to elucidate several themes which get to the heart of their empiricism, and which continue to exert a powerful influence on contemporary philosophical thought. Students will read substantial portions of historically significant original works, dissect and criticize them, consider some of the respected secondary literature, and also consider their relevance to contemporary philosophy. Usually offered every third year. Mr. Samet

PHIL
181a
Schopenhauer and Nietzsche: Art and Politics
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Prerequisite: One course in philosophy or European cultural studies.Examines two philosophers whose subversive ideas and brilliant prose have stirred the deepest human anxieties and hopes for man's relationship to nature, values, aesthetics, religion, law, and society. Their impact on art and politics illustrated through works by Mann and Kafka. Usually offered every third year.Mr. Gaskins

PHIL
182a
Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations
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An intensive study of Ludwig Wittgenstein's seminal work, Philosophical Investigations. This course should be of interest to philosophy and literature students who want to learn about this great philosopher's influential views on the nature of language and interpretation. Usually offered every second year.Mr. Flesch and Mr. Hirsch

(200 and above) Primarily for Graduate Students

PHIL
200a
Graduate Proseminar
Open only to MA philosophy students.This seminar provides graduate students in philosophy with the background to understand debates in a sub-field of philosophy and help students engage conceptually and critically with philosophical problems. Instructors, topics, and subfields will vary from year to year. Usually offered every year.Staff

PHIL
214a
Topics in Normative Philosophy
Open only to graduate students.Focuses on topics in normative philosophy. Possible topics include normative ethics, metaethics, political philosophy, and the history of normative philosophy. Usually offered every year.Ms. Moran or Ms. Smiley

PHIL
235a
Graduate Seminar in Epistemology
Prerequisite: Graduate student or permission of the instructor.Graduate seminar that covers the most important recent work in epistemology. Usually offered every third year.Mr. Marusic

PHIL
238a
Metaphysics
May not be repeated for credit by students who have taken PHIL 138a in previous years.Metaphysics is an attempt to describe in a general way the nature of reality and how people fit into the scheme of things. Topics vary from year to year but may include truth, ontology, necessity, free will, causality, temporal passage, and identity. Usually offered every year.Mr. Berger, Mr. Greenberg, or Mr. Hirsch

PHIL
239a
Topics in Metaphysics
Topics will include the haecceity / anti-haecceity controversy, temporal, eternal, presentist, actualist, logical and metaphysical notions of possibility. Usually offered every second year.Mr. Berger

PHIL
297a
Teaching Practicum
May be repeated once for credit. Does not count towards required nine courses for the MA degree.Offers professional supervision and peer advising to MA students who teach philosophy at schools and programs in the Boston area during their residency in the MA program. Usually offered every semester.Staff

PHIL
298a
Independent Study
May be repeated once for credit.Normally available for a student who wishes to pursue advanced reading on research in a subject or field not available in the department's course listings. Usually offered every semester.Staff

PHIL
299a
Master's Project
Students must complete a master's paper under the guidance of a faculty advisor and enroll in this course during their final semester in the master's program. Usually offered every semester.Staff

Cross-Listed in Philosophy

The department approves cross-listed courses for philosophy credit each semester, based on the course content and instructor. If approved, cross-listed courses (irrespective of the number assigned by the home department) count only as lower-level electives and do not satisfy any of the philosophy department's distribution requirements. Please consult the Schedule of Classes or contact the undergraduate advising head to confirm if a particular class is cross-listed for philosophy credit in a given semester.

COML
190b
Fictional Thinking
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"We can only think, in language, because language is and yet is not our voice," writes Slavoj Zizek. Studies how fictional characters in James, Proust, Woolf and others think before is and for us -- and each other. Usually offered every third year.Mr. Flesch

ED
159b
Philosophy of Education
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Explores several major issues in philosophy of education through close examination and discussion of recent theoretical texts. Issues include the goals of education; the rights of the state to foster civic virtue; multiculturalism; moral education; the problem of indoctrination; education for autonomy, rationality, critical thinking, and open-mindedness. Usually offered every second year. Mr. Levisohn

FYS
7a
Science, Evolution, and Design
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This seminar considers several versions of the argument from design for the existence of God, culminating in a critical examination of the contemporary debate over intelligent design theory and the claim that it is a genuine science.Ms. Marusic (Philosophy)

LING
130a
Formal Semantics: Truth, Meaning, and Language
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Prerequisite: LING 100a or permission of the instructor. LING 8b or LING 120b recommended.Explores the semantic structure of language in terms of the current linguistic theory of model-theoretic semantics. Topics include the nature of word meanings, categorization, compositionality, and plurals and mass terms. Usually offered every year.Ms. Malamud

LING
140a
Architecture of Conversation: Discourse and Pragmatics
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This is an experiential learning course. Prerequisite: LING 100a or permission of the instructor.Assuming a theory of sentence-level linguistic competence, what phenomena are still to be accounted for in the explication of language knowledge? The class explores topics in language use in context, including anaphora, deixis, implicature, speech acts, information packaging, and pragmatics of dialogue. Usually offered every year.Ms. Malamud

NEJS
156b
A Philosophical Introduction to Judaism
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Explores selected topics that are central to Jewish thought and practice. An introduction to Judaism for those without background in Jewish texts and traditions, but also appropriate for those with background. Topics include covenant, ritual, idolatry, interpretation, gender violence, chosenness. Usually offered every second year.Mr. Levisohn

NEJS
159a
Modern Jewish Philosophy
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Surveys the contours of modern Jewish philosophy by engaging some of its most important themes and voices. Competing Jewish inflections of and responses to rationalism, romanticism, idealism, existentialism, and nihilism. This provides the conceptual road signs of the course as we traverse the winding byways of Jewish philosophy from Baruch Spinoza to Emanuel Levinas. Usually offered every second year.Mr. Sheppard

POL
186b
Classical Political Thought
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Major ancient political philosophers and the meaning and implications of their work for contemporary political issues. Usually offered every year.Mr. Yack

POL
189a
Marx, Nietzsche, and Twentieth-Century Radicalism
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Comparison of two powerful and influential critiques of modern politics and society. Explanation of Marx's work, both for its own insights and as a model for radical theorists; and of Nietzsche's work as an alternative conception of radical social criticism. Usually offered every year.Mr. Yack

POL
192b
Seminar: Topics in Law and Political Theory
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Interplay among law, morality, and political theory. Specific topics vary from year to year. Usually offered every year.Mr. Yack or Staff